One problem, many solutions: simple statistical approaches help unravel the complexity of the immune system in an ecological context.

ABSTRACT: The immune system is a complex collection of interrelated and overlapping solutions to the problem of disease. To deal with this complexity, researchers have devised multiple ways to measure immune function and to analyze the resulting data. In this way both organisms and researchers employ many tactics to solve a complex problem. One challenge facing ecological immunologists is the question of how these many dimensions of immune function can be synthesized to facilitate meaningful interpretations and conclusions. We tackle this challenge by employing and comparing several statistical methods, which we used to test assumptions about how multiple aspects of immune function are related at different organizational levels. We analyzed three distinct datasets that characterized 1) species, 2) s

SUBMITTER: Buehler DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3079723 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature